WASHINGTON February 1, 2016 President Obama today announced plans to launch the National Cancer Moonshot with a call for $1 billion in funding for specific cancer prevention and research initiatives intended to accelerate progress in FY16 and FY17.
Following is a statement from ACS CAN President Chris Hansen:
Families affected by cancer applaud the president for working quickly to jumpstart the Moonshot initiative spearheaded by Vice President Biden by calling for a substantial increase in funding that has the potential to change the course of this disease.
The president builds on the boost in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the FY16 budget secured through bipartisan support, working to ensure we as a nation are maximizing opportunities to bring lab discoveries from the bench to the bedside this year.
The proposal thoughtfully identifies important areas of potential, including developing new vaccines and early detection tests, applying an advanced understanding of the genetic makeup of cancer through precision medicine, discovering new therapies to combat pediatric cancer and creating a new cancer research fund that will allow for high-risk, high-return research grants that have previously gone unfunded because of constrained budgets.
The president 's proposal is a clear illustration of his intention to make good on the promise to accelerate progress against cancer. The Moonshot provides hope to the nearly 1.7 million Americans who will be diagnosed this year and the nearly 14.5 million cancer survivors in this country that we are mustering the full resources of our nation to impact the cancer burden.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
For More Info, Contact:
Alissa Crispino
Phone: 202-661-5772
Email: [email protected]
#Moonshot #acscan #cancer #NCI #research #prevention
